The People Behind the Masks
by xohannahh87
Summary: Hogwarts is holding a masquerade ball where Draco meets someone he thinks he's never seen before. She's beautiful on the inside & out. After he figures out her identity, does he have what it takes to convince her to be with him, the real him? HG/DM


Heyy, im pretty new to all this "writing" and stuff so im kinda scared to post this.

I had an idea for a fanfic last night and just wrote it on a whim right now. It was meant to be a one-shot, but looks like I'll get a few chapters out of it. (:

I hope you like it! Pleeeeeaaseee review. It's the only thing that keeps me writing.

Thankssss,

xoHannaHox

* * *

All the students filed into the Great Hall for dinner. As they went to their tables and settled down to eat, everybody heard Dumbledore's voice telling them to be quiet."

"Students, please listen. As you all already know, we have a trip to Hogsmeade tomorrow. That shall be a good time for most of you to pick out new dress clothes for next week."

"What for?" said by a rather sarcastic Ravenclaw boy.

Dumbledore continued, "The staff has decided to plan an event to help promote interhouse relations. The Saturday following this, Hogwarts will be holding a masquerade ball. All students are required to attend and _must _wear a mask. By ensuring the secrecy of the students, it will help to lower the levels of prejudice between houses. Who knows? By the end of the night, a Slytherin might find themselves dancing with a Hufflepuff, or even a Griffindor."

At this, many students groaned. But, most of the girls started giggling and chatting with their friends, already planning what to wear and who to go with.

Two people who were _not _very excited were Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. She was the Head Girl and he was the Head Boy, which meant sharing a common room. Who knew that they had something else in common; their hatred for what just came out of the Headmaster's mouth.

"So Hermione, who do you want to go with?" said Ginny, her feisty red haired best friend sitting next to her.

Hermione knew who she wanted to ask her, but knew it would never happen, so she kept it to herself. Instead, she lied. "No one! I don't even want to go to this, this, thing! We have N.E.W.T.'s coming up and this is just another way to distract everybody from their studies."

_That is so typical Hermione…ugh._ "But that is the exact reason why everyone should go! We've been all studying for our end of the year tests non-stop! Finally, we get to have some fun two weekends in a row. Wait, you _are_ going to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow, right? We must find the most stunning outfits the boys have ever seen."

At that she looked at Harry, Ron, Neville, and Seamus. They weren't talking about the dance; they were stuffing their faces, as usual.

"Boys…" muttered Ginny.

"Fine, I will go with you. If I'm being forced to go, then I at least want to make an attempt at looking presentable."

Hermione thought of someone and snuck a glance at the Slytherin table, looking for the noticeable platinum blonde hair. When she found him, his eyes were already locked on hers. She blushed and quickly looked down. When she looked back up she expected to see his trademark sneer. But what she found was the complete opposite. He was still staring at her, but smirking a very un-malfoyish smirk. It actually looked, nice, and sexy?

_Whoa, Hermione, get a grip on yourself. He is __**not **__looking at you like that. You completely imagined it._

Her focus traveled back to her own table and automatically took in all the girls constant talking about next week's festivities. She was told that tomorrow she would meet Ginny and the girls in the Griffindor common room to go find dresses in Hogsmeade.

* * *

Draco tore his eyes away from her and went back into conversation with his, umm, friends? But regretted it immediately when he was grabbed by the waist and pulled towards someone.

"Ooooh Draco! This is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to share it with you. Remember all of our fond memories from the last dance?"

Oh, yes. He remembered. _She_ looked beautiful, stunning even. He didn't recognize her at first. He watched her all evening, dancing with that Bulgarian seeker. At first, he wondered why in the world Viktor Krum would choose her over all the other girls in the school. That was, until he saw her that night. She was laughing and spinning and had a sort of glow radiating off of her.

Of course, he knew that he could never have her. But, it was that second, when their eyes met from across the dance floor, that he realized what has been bothering him for years.

He was in love with her, even though he tried very hard to not admit it to himself. Draco Malfoy, a rich pureblood, was in love with a stupid bushy haired Griffindor mudblood.

All the years that he spent teasing her, it was all out of spite. Of course, in his first couple years at Hogwarts, he hated her because that was what his father had told him he was supposed to do; that purebloods were superior to all others and mudbloods didn't even deserve their magic.

Around his 3rd year, everything changed. He secretly admired the way she worked so hard and got better grades than him. He was jealous actually. When she hit him, Draco No-One-Ever-Dares-To-Touch-Me Malfoy, he respected her.

There he was, thinking about her all night when he noticed her dress lift up as she was spinning. His pants got tight and Pansy noticed and took him outside.

It was both of their first times, yet it wasn't special. He longed to be with _her, _and that is who he thought about the entire time.

"Yes, Pansy, I remember. And I would very much _not _like to have to relive that torture of you clinging on to my arm all night, ever again" he said, coming out of his memories and back to the present.

"But Draaakiiieeee! We have to go together! It'll just be like practice for when we get married after graduation!" she whined.

He could kill his father. For many reasons actually, but the most recent would be the worst. The Malfoys and Parkinsons arranged for their children to be wed, thus gaining both families very much, including a guaranteed pureblood heir.

_Ugh, babies, with Parkinson._

He couldn't even dare to think about it while eating or he would throw up his pumpkin juice everywhere. He refused to think of Granger. She was almost as bad as Pansy, at least that's what he told himself.

_No, she's Granger. I do not love her. I don't even like her! It's completely lust and that is all._

* * *

_How on earth did Ginny convince me to do this? It's like the Yule Ball all over again. __Well, that couldn't be such a bad thing. _

Last time, she had a gorgeous date and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She knew one thing for a fact. He wasn't asking her so she would just have to settle with his admiring stares all evening. That is, if she could even pull off looking half as pretty as people told her she did 3 years ago.

_It was fun, until Ronald had to go and ruin it with his insane jealousy. I hope he doesn't do that again. Oh, wow. Here we go again._

* * *

what do you guys thinkkkkk? review and let me know if i should continue or notttt. :/


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